What is home hardening?
A short glossary-style answer: what home hardening means, where the term comes from, and the handful of fixes that matter most.
Definition
Home hardening is the practice of upgrading a home's exterior materials, openings, and immediate landscape so that it resists ignition from wildfire embers and radiant heat. The term is used by CAL FIRE, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), and California Building Code Chapter 7A.
What it covers
Roof and gutters, vents, eaves and soffits, siding, windows and doors, decks and fences, and the first 100 feet of landscape (defensible space).
It does not cover interior fire alarms, sprinklers, or extinguishers — those are life-safety items, separate from wildfire hardening.
Why it works
Most homes lost in wildfires are ignited by embers, not by a wall of flame. Hardening removes the small fuels and openings embers need to start a structure fire. A hardened home in a burned neighborhood routinely survives untouched.
Where to learn more
Read our checklist guide for the full 29-point walkthrough, or start a free FireScores scan to see how your specific home rates.
Get a free 0–100 wildfire risk score from a guided photo inspection of 29 home-hardening checkpoints.
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